the_brighty_and_fireyfandomcom-20200216-history
Rage of Storms
Book one of Game of Shadows. Enjoy <3 -secrets and starts- "Sun Tribe, you have until moonhigh to leave this territory." The leader of the Shadows growled. "The night is our turn to reign." The proud, golden she-cat hissed. "Never, we shall rule these lands, with or without your approval!" He glared at the Shadows. The dark tom laughed. "You foolish she-cat," he snarled. "You'll never win against the Shadows. Especially not in a Game of Shadows. You can't see anything in the dark, but in the sunlight, we can still see. We have the advantage." Goldenstar hissed. "Never. The Sun Tribe won't give up so easily." "So be it." ~Many moons later~ "New kits are being born!" Goldenstar sighed in relief. She had been waging a Game of Shadows against the Shadows for moons now, and the Sun Tribe was obviously losing. Many cats were dead, taken by the Shadows or sacrificed for blood. It was hopeless, she shouldn't have done it. But her cats needed a place to live, and the meadows they had once lived in were already killing them. Now it became a tradition among the Shadows and the Sun Tribe. Goldenstar stared down at the newborn kits, feeling sorry that they had to be born in a time like this. But they felt special. "Are they Sun Spirits?" She whispered softly. But there was no reply. "What shall you call them?" She murmured softly to the panting queen. Silverbirch closed her tired eyes. She opened them and looked at her beloved kits. "Hazelkit." She paused, looking at the other. "And Darkkit." Goldenstar looked down, staring at the black kit. She grimaced. "He is a sign from the Sun Spirits. He cannot be under our rule, we must either kill him, or imprison him. He cannot be among us." Silverbirch groaned mournfully. "He is acursed. There must be something we can do to save him." Goldenstar shook her head. "He is from the Shadowed Spirits. There is nothing we can do to cure him." Silverbirch straightened a bit. "Then we must imprison him. I cannot bear to kill him, even if he is of a different side." "If you wish." - - ~ - - "Black Spirit, what do you think?" The leader glanced back. He shrugged. "What can I think about it? He's a light gray tom, a sign that he belongs with us." Black Spirit stared down at the shadowed river banks. Shadow Hawk sighed. "But you know Silverbirch, the queen in the Sun Tribe. She is light gray, yet she is stil among them. We do not have a single light gray cat among us. He cannot be the first!" Black Spirit pondered that. "Fine, cast him out. Throw him in the river and let the Shadowed Spirits consume him." Shadow Hawk dipped her head. "As you wish." "Wait." The leader called after her. She stopped. "What is the kit's name?" His curious green eyes stared at the light gray tom. "Thunder Boom." - - ~ - - "Look Goldenstar!" Redfire shrieked. "A kit is bobbing among the river water! We must save him." The leader hesitated. "He is light gray, a color that belongs to the Shadows, you know that." Silverbirch glanced over. She was a slave queen, not really part of them, but loyal at the same time. Redfire sighed. "What if we can train him to become one of us?" "That's the same as accepting Darkkit and the other gray toms and she-cats among us!" Goldenstar hissed. Silverbirch was watching them now. "Look at him, he was born in the Shadows." "They cast him out. The light gray isn't suited for them, it is in between." Redfire persisted. "I can feed him with milk or Silverbirch can." The leader closed her eyes. "Alright, but he shall serve as a slave. No more." -be among us- hazelpaw "Hazelkit!" I whipped around to face the speaker. Thunderkit was staring at me. His eyes were fearful, and Silverbirch was dragging him away. "Thunderkit!" I screeched, bounding after him. "Where is he going? Isn't he going to be an apprentice like me?" Goldenstar padded to my side. "No, dear. He is going to be a worker alongside Silverbirch." "But isn't he my brother?" "That's right! She's not even pure-born! She has the blood of a silver cat, a slave." Lionclaw snarled, his fierce eyes glaring at me. I shrank back. Goldenstar gave him a sharp glance. "Hazelkit has the right pelt color, which means she must be a pure-born warrior. The Sun Spirits are telling us so." But that did not silence the cats around me. I backed up, certain that Lionclaw and his brother, Sunpelt, would attack me. "She was a kit of a slave! Her brother and her mother has gray pelts!" Cries of anger and despair rang through the clearing. "Silence!" Goldenstar glared around her. "It is bad enough that we are against the Shadows. I do not need the Sun Tribe falling into pieces! For now, Hazelkit shall become an apprentice of the Sun Tribe." This time no one objected. "Hazelkit, step forward." I stumbled forward, my legs shaking. "From this moment on, until you have become a warrior, you shall be known as Hazelpaw. Lightflare, you are a kind and strong she-cat, and I know you will make Hazelpaw someone we will all be proud of." I touched noses with her, glad that I got someone that didn't hate me because of my mother and my brother. "Thunderkit, step forward." The Tribe was now up and roaring again. "He is a slave! You have said so yourself! Why is he to become an apprentice?" Goldenstar glared at them. "Every cat deserves a chance to have a name. Thunderkit, from this moment on you shall be known as Thunderpaw. You must remember that you are nothing more than a slave to the Tribe, but keep in mind that if you can prove your loyalty and worth, you can become a warrior among us." The black kit nodded, his eyes alert and ready. "Alright, the meeting is closed." I was swept along with the tide towards the Sun part of the Tribe camp. I glanced back over my shoulder at Thunderpaw, who was chatting with our mother. I wondered how he felt now. Lightflare called to me, and I shuffled uncertainly over to her. "Yes?" I mewed. Lightflare looked at me, probably judging my skills in battle. "We'll do exercise training first." She decided. "You probably didn't do much when you were with Silverbirch since she was a slave." I didn't respond to that, and followed Lightflare into the forest. "Why are we at war with the Shadows?" Lightflare turned her head back to stare at me. "Well, a long time ago, Goldenstar met with the Shadows' leader, Black Spirit and tried to negotiate with him. Black Spirit wanted Goldenstar to give them permission to rule the lands we walk over now at night, and at day, we would rule this area. Goldenstar refused, and now we're fighting." Lightflare explained. "We're losing aren't we?" Lightflare sighed. "Yes, we are. We're losing badly, and we need more warriors. Goldenstar doesn't care about the pelt colors anymore, so she allows slaves to prove their loyalty and worth." I nodded. "Thunderpaw's loyal." I mewed, defending my brother. Lightflare closed her eyes. "Not everyone thinks that, Hazelpaw. Half of the cats think you're not loyal because you were born from a silver she-cat. Who knows who your father was." Lightflare added when I opened my mouth to ask another question. I snapped my mouth shut, feeling a bit worried. What if nobody accepted me among the Sun Tribe? "Will they accept me?" I mewed quietly. Lightflare only shrugged. "You have to show your worth, Hazelpaw. Show them who you really are, and what you're made of. Usually cats like you are kept as a slave because you were born from a slave. Goldenstar only made you a regular apprentice because she knows we need to extra warriors in order to win this battle." That was a bit depressing, knowing that you're apprenticeship was only granted because we were losing. I followed Lightflare silently, not wanting to discuss this anymore. Lightflare led me to a clearing that had overgrown stalks wrapping around trees, small bushes littering the floor. It looked like a mini forest, except with no trees. Lightflare instructed me to stand in the center of the clearing and told me to dodge whatever attacks she threw at me. I nodded, determined to get this right the first time. She caught me by surprise, lunging for my right side before slipping towards the left. I ended up ducking under her paws and catching her mid-leap. She grunted in approval before spinning around and charging me once more. Lifting up a paw, I blocked her first blow before darting in to land one myself. I forgot about just defending, and it became a full out fight. At last, Lightflare stopped and panted. "Good job, Hazelpaw. Even though you were supposed to just defend, you did I good job counterattacking." She looked out of breath, but I was excited. "Let's do that again!" She laughed. "That's enough for one day, Hazelpaw. You'll get more chances soon when we go into another battle against the Shadows." I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. "When in battle, I feel excited and on the run. I just react." I purred. "Is that what you feel?" Lightflare stared at me calmly. "Rarely do apprentices that originate from slaves feel that way." She admitted. "Rarely do any apprentices feel that way. I got my skill and concentration from practice and training. Perhaps you are worthy of being a Sun Tribe warrior." I purred in relief and bounced back to camp after her, feeling happy for the first time in what felt like forever. I entered camp still feeling exhilarated. Thunderpaw glanced up and waved at me. I sheepishly waved back and sucked my head. He shouldn't know how much fun I'm having without him. Thunderpaw asked to be excused, and scooted over to me with an angry Lionclaw glaring after him. I shuddered when I saw the fierceness in his gaze. "Hey, Hazelpaw." Thunderpaw purred. "You should be careful." I mewed worriedly. "Lionclaw's going to claw your ear off." "He can try." Thunderpaw growled. "He can't even land a blow on me. Goldenstar has ordered no harm to be put on the slaves." I still cautioned him. "But still, I'm worried for you." He nuzzled my head, "It's okay, I'll be fine. How's your training coming along? You seem to be doing pretty good." He lowered his gaze. "Oh... I'm doing okay, but I wish you were training with me, Thunderpaw." I curled my tail around him, feeling safe when he was around. He sighed. "I wish so too, one day, I'm going to prove that I can be part of the Sun Tribe and that I can fight against the Shadows." Lionclaw called to him once more. "Get over here, kit! You're lucky that Goldenstar accepted you in as a slave! You could be like the other kittens who were imprisoned for their dark fur." He hissed. Goldenstar intervened. "Thunderpaw, come and work now. You do not belong with the other Sun Tribe apprentices now. Lionclaw, be nice." She repimanded him. "Darkkit and the rest of them were pure black. We accept silver cats as slaves and no more." "You said that you would let them be warriors if they proved their worth." I protested. "Thunderpaw has a chance right?" "Never!" Lionclaw hissed. Goldenstar gave him a swift glare before replying. "He does, but only if he can prove himself." I was still curious about the others. "Then what about the black and dark brown kits?" I mewed. "What happens with them? We have black cats as slaves too." Goldenstar sighed. "Ask Lightflare later, I'm sure she can tell you why." -this dark forbidden place- prisoner 519 I shifted in the shadows, my eyes watching the silver cats work. I want to be like them, I don't want to be trapped in this forbidden place, forgotten... I stared at the light brown tabby she-cat. She seems so familiar... I knew who she was. "You! Prisoner 519, come over here." Sunpelt was staring at him. "I said come over here." I shuffled over to him, feeling my chains clink over one another. "You're to hunt in the fields until dark. No slacking off, you here me?" I nodded and padded outside, shielding my eyes against the harsh sunlight. But there was none. Where we hunted was a dark, damp place with no sun. I missed the sunlight, but I didn't remember what it was like. Sunpelt shoved me along the corrider, not caring who I was. I didn't even know who I was. I didn't even have a name anymore. "Move along." Sunpelt snarled. "Or I'll report you to Goldenstar, and she'll have your tail for disobedience." The other prisoners gave me a quick glance. I dragged my paws along, not wanting to give Sunpelt the satisfaction of beating me. He grumbled impatiently, and let me shuffle down the dark hallway. "You prisoners better behave, I'll be watching you all." He closed the door behind me, and we heard the lock click in place. I knew better than to let time go by. We had to catch at least six pieces of prey or we would be shut in a cave for our lives. With nothing to do but sit there in the darkness. My best friend, Prisoner 332 - I call him Shadowkit -, had tried that, and now he has no chance of becoming a slave, or even a warrior. I can't even visit him anymore. "Get moving, kit." One prisoner whispered to me. "If you stand there like a duck, Sunpelt will report you! He's not agreed to wreck havoc on us." I sighed and sniffed for prey, feeling the cold, slimy water run through my paws. "I don't get why I'm here." I muttered. "I wasn't even born in the Shadows. I was born here." This other cat, the one they called Night Shadow, looked back at me. "The Sun Tribe doesn't like dark pelted cats. They think we're accursed." "Well you came from the Shadows didn't you?" I pointed out. He nodded. "I did, but even we knew that any dark pelted cats born in the Sun Tribe would be imprisoned. They don't like the idea of sending you away, in fear that the Shadows would recruit you." "I would prefer being thrown out then stuck here." I snarled. "I would rather join the Shadows even if I was born here." Night Shadow smirked. "Too bad that might never happen." I clawed at the ground. "I'm going to make it happen." I narrowed my eyes, and concentrated on hunting. I just had to prove I could belong in the Sun Tribe, then join the Shadows and defeat the Tribe that brought this upon me. Then I remembered that light brown tabby that I saw. Little Owl, another captured prisoner had croaked that she saw my birth. I was the brother of Hazelpaw, the she-cat I saw earlier. She's my sister... and that Thunderpaw is my brother. My paws itched to be in action. Spotting a mouse skittering in my field, I lunged forward. My chains clattering against the hard floor. This happened often, but the mice had no where to run. Not with so many prisoners around trying to catch them. We sorted out the prey, passing leftovers around for others to keep as their own. When Owlflight came to pick up our prey, she counted that every cat had six pieces. "That's good." She grunted, taking one from every pile and tossing it to us. "That's your meal for the day." I snatched the crow passed to me and hurried to my nest, settling in to feast. My stomach was grumbling loudly, but I was used to it now. Staring through the peek-hole at my den, I saw the light brown tabby once more. You're lucky... but you won't be when I'm done with you all. Peeking out once more, I spotted Sunpelt chating with Goldenstar. I shivered, hoping he wasn't telling her about the bad things he was doing. That would ruin my perfect, flawless, plan. Well then of course, it wouldn't be flawless if Sunpelt rats on me. Little Owl was licking her pelt, so I padded over to her. "Can you tell me what life in the Shadows are like?" She stopped grooming for a moment and looked at me. "Why do you want to know?" She rasped. "There's nothing special about it." "I just do." I persisted. Little Owl shifted in her nest. "Well, young one. Life in the Shadows was like..." -slave or prisoner- thunderpaw Category:Firey's Fanfics Category:Fanfictions Category:Game of Shadows